Book Review: The Iron Duke

Author: Meljean Brook

Title: The Iron Duke (Iron Seas #1)
Genre: Steampunk, Sci-Fi, Paranormal Romance, Adventure, Fantasy
Pages: 378

First Published: October 5th, 2010
Where I Got It: Borrowed from Library

"First in an all-new series where seductive danger and steampunk adventure abound in the gritty world of the Iron Seas. 

After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power-and fear-of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.

But when Mina uncovers the victim's identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans-and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen, as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke."

This is my first novel by Meljean Brook and my first full novel in the steampunk genre. I've read the occasional short story, but this is my first technically. 

I asked B over at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell, what would be a good book to read as an introduction (of sorts) to this genre, she steered me towards this deliciously covered book. Thanks B! 

Well, being new to the genre its going to be really hard for me to review this, so I'll divide and conquer this book review:

The Good
-Great set of characters! Meljean Brook certainly has a great mind of having her characters interact to each other and the situations in the book. They felt very 3D and real. I especially loved Mina, she was pretty bad ass. Rhys was a little annoying at points, but I still liked him. 

-The world was pretty cool. Just imagine if our world was like that? 

-Meljean Brook did a wonderful job with imagery. I really could see every zombie, the interesting half-human half-machine, I could hear every spout of steam from the machines, and etc. She did a wonderful bringing this world to life.

-The zombies and the kraken were neat! When I read that she was going to have zombies in this book, I was a little unsure how she would do it. Too be honest I felt like it be forced and sort of cheesy, but she did very well in avoiding that trench of cheesieness. 

-Loved the ending! This was my face below. I can't say more than how shocked I was, because I might spoil something! 

The Bad and the Ugly

Okay....ummmm.....let's see.....

-The romance seemed very forced at points. I really didn't FEEL that they wanted each other, except for Rhys, but I doubted his emotions for her very much. He's a super rogue-ish pirate who use to rape and pillage for the fun of it. Such characters rarely do a 180 and can dedicate himself to one "broad". 

-I wish Meljean Brook went more into detail on the Hordes. They are interesting and I really want to know how they gained such technology. Perhaps more information will be given in future books.

-I didn't understand the hatred of the other "infected" people had on Mina. Aren't the majority of them part Horde due to the Frenzys? Or wouldn't they be more understanding? Seeing a half-horde shouldn't be too surprising or ghastly. 

-Even though there was a lot of adventure going on, I felt....bored sometimes. It's odd, but it's just what I felt.

-Don't get me wrong, I love romances, but I felt the romance trumped over the adventure sometimes. I was more interested in the adventure aspects sometimes. Perhaps that's why I felt bored at points. Hahaha, I think I found my reason now. The romance aspect seemed to appear at wrong spots....in my opinion of course.

Conclusion

I liked this book. It's a great introduction to the world of steampunk for others that want to check out this new-ish genre. When I shut the book and read the last word, I took some time to think deeply about my feelings of this genre as a whole....should I read more? Did I really like? Did I hate it? Well...to some up my  reaction to this genre and this book, just look down:

Okay, okay....the steampunk genre seems legit and I'll check out some more in the future. I would recommend this book to those that love the genre and for those that want to take this genre for a test-drive, like moi. In the end I give this 3 stars. It would be like a 3.4, but I don't give decimals, so I rounded. I really want to read Yasmin's book! 

Favorite Character(s): Mina (epic heroine),Yasmin (cold-hearted, but a strong and complex character), Rhys (sometimes), Newberry (^.^ he reminds me of O'Bryon from the show Copper), and Anne.

Not-so-favorite Character(s): Mina's madre/mother (>.> *spoiler* I don't care that you were raped, there was no reason to gouge out your own eyes because your baby looks Asian/Horde-an. That's horrible and not excusable. *spoiler ended*) and Dorchester (meh).

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<3CaroleRae